Bottlenecks, Snarls, Delays  

 

 

Authorities often attribute the traffic congestion in the city to undisciplined auto-rickshaw drivers, unruly bike riders, and citizens driving on roads without caring for the traffic rules. But, the same authorities fail to mention the faulty town planning, building infrastructure at wrong places, and their failure to act on encroachment that cause the obstructions for smooth traffic flow. City bus stop opposite office of Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) in Sadar is an ideal example of piece of infrastructure that obstructs the traffic adversely. The commuter shed meant for passengers is located on footpath adjacent to Bishop Cotton School. It is also a major junction with road from LIC Square just before Liberty Square in Sadar. This road is heavily used by city buses as well as inter-city and inter-state buses going towards Ramtek, Katol, Saoner, Jabalpur, Chhindwara and Seoni among others. Being near railway station, this commuter shed is used by passengers waiting for these city and intercity buses. The high volume of passengers boarding and de-boarding at the point forces buses to stop for longer duration.

 

The movement of traffic from Samvidhan Square till Bishop Cotton School passes through a narrow bottleneck near the start of Sadar flyover, which slows it down considerably. After passing through the bottleneck, all commuters are in rush to reach their destination. These vehicles are obstructed by the stopping buses, as they leave a narrow space that is merely enough for passage of smaller vehicles like a car or bikes. In case another bus or other heavy vehicle needs to pass, they have to wait till the bus starts to move again. The NIT bus stop is not an isolated example of traffic congestion caused by apparent faulty location of commuter waiting sheds. Similar inconvenience can be seen at SFS bus stop in Sadar on both sides of the road; Akashwani Square bus stop near Akashwani Bhavan during peak hours. Sitabuldi, hub of ‘Aapli Bus’ operations in the city, also faces traffic congestion caused by city buses. This congestion is not caused by faulty town planning but lack of space for buses due to encroachment on the road. City buses approach Morbhavan, the main stop in the city, from Jhansi Rani Square that is always occupied by pedestrians, street vendors, and auto-rickshaws at the entrance of Morbhavan waiting for passengers.

 

This causes chaotic situation, in peak hours specially, when the buses block the road waiting to get space for entering or exiting the Morbhavan. Similar traffic disruptions can be seen near Moonlight Studio at Variety Square. The autos arriving from Kamptee and Tekadi road, deboard their passengers near Moonlight and take a right or U-turn. These autos cut lanes for right turns, or hold up one lane for the U-turn, reducing availability of road for other vehicles and creating huge traffic jam at the junction.

 

With addition of city buses intending to go right towards Maharajbag, the situation gets chaotic and a general commuter has to trudge his way through for safe passage. Situations like these are common occurances across various locations in the city like Loha pul bus stop near Manas Square, Kriplani Square bus stop used by buses plying on Wardha road among others. These traffic congestions increase the possibility of mishaps. Authorities act sporadically against the offenders at these places resulting in situation getting back to as it was before. The authorities need to come up with new solutions to resolve such issues that may arise at many such places in the city.